"I'm at peace," I heard a woman say. My husband and I were attending Calvin's 50th reunion last weekend when I overheard this comment. She went on to explain that she was facing a life-threatening surgery. From her story and demeanor, I felt she was saying she was ready for any untoward outcome. I thought …
Continue reading Calvin College 50-year Reunion Celebration 2013
Anyone with toddlers knows that the loss of a favorite blanket can become a grandma’s nightmare. But not for this grandma, not if I could help it. Last week my husband and I babysat, actually babyran, our two youngest grandchildren for four days. Eighty-seven hours. Numbers wise, they are our fourth and fifth grandchildren. G4 …
Private painting party for 10. Instructors teach paintings through an easy to follow step-by-step process. These words attracted me to this silent auction item at the recent Mental Health America of Illinois benefit in Chicago. I couldn’t pass it up. Ever since my failed attempt at creating apples that looked like apples (and not flat …
Continue reading Hues & Booze Party – An Evening of Hilarity and Discovered Talent
If you live with a chronic illness, you know that nothing surprises you. You are used to new symptoms arising out of the blue, and you are accustomed to doctors' visits, diagnostic tests, and hospitalizations. About a year ago, I swore off doctors for treatment of my fibromyalgia. Weary of chasing a cure and reaching …
If you like to read, this challenge will intrigue you: write a list of the last five books you’ve read. Then consider what your list might mean to someone else. John Warner figures that out in his weekly Chicago Tribune column titled The Biblioracle. From the lists emailed to him, he assesses what the person likes to read—for …
I’m a senior, not in high school or college, but in life. You could also say I’m a senior in the University of Chicago Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults, because I’m in my fourth and final year. It is Spring Break, and I’m happy to be free for a bit. Readings this past …
Shootings in Chicago make national news. Snow kindness does not. It rarely even makes local news, except for the occasional gratitude letter to the editor about someone returning home to find his or her walkway shoveled. But my friend and I experienced a heartwarming degree of snow kindness last week, the day we had six …
Once upon a time, two women in their late sixties met at church and soon became friends. Letty is now 76 and Martha 74. Martha is a widow and moved to Letty’s small town after her retirement and the death of her husband to be near her children. Last week, Letty sent me this email, …
As she lay dying from pancreatic cancer, Nurse Martha Keochareon wanted to do more than plan her funeral. So she called her alma mater and offered to become a “case study” for nursing students. She reasoned she could help students learn about the dying process while, at the same time, it would be a way …
When I first read Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique in 1970, I cried with relief. Friedan had interviewed suburban housewives and found many were not fulfilled as homemakers. That was me. And like others in these first waves of feminism, I, after some painful soul-searching (chapters 5 and 6 in Caring Lessons), ventured out of …
Write Along with Me 